The Godfather-

The feature length film I will choose to talk about is the Godfather. Francis Coppola examines the "mob lifestyle" in a way that has changed the outlook on "gangster" films ever since they've been viewed in America since the early 1940's. There are a few scenes in which Coppola sets out to have the viewer feel a emotion rather than search for it. His delicate choice of what sets in the frame and what does not has to do with Coppola's ideas for liberty and peace by any means necessary. The last shot of the film for example, Michael Corleone has just explained to his wife that he did not set up his sisters boyfriend's death, but of course he was lying, and soon after Michael's status shows that he has become the head of the family and we see how Coppola chooses to separate family and business through composition of camera work. He has Michael's wife on the outside of the room, zoomed up face shot of her, and then we have s hot of Michael in the dark lit area of the room, and the door shots on him being admired as the next Don. Throughout the film Coppola uses the camera as his sword and shield. There is also a murder seen by the corn fields, and there is a shot of the Statue of Liberty that is in the distance. The look of the shot portrays a feeling of finding your own liberty in a place where everyone is supposed to be"Free". The technical choices of the film such as lighting, tilt, panning of characters, and angles of the camera makes the movie more realistic during the gun battles but these techniques are emphasize Italian tradition at the dinner table. The Godfather is one of those films where you can not turn away fora second because you might miss a scene that shows the cinematographer motive through the film. The movie is shot in an very neat fashion, there isn't a lot of discourse with the camera, meaning there is not to much tracking and panning of characters immediately when the film starts. The tracking and panning, and play on lighting sneaks up gradually in the film, providing its audience with traces of action but solidifying pure emotion with dialogue that flows naturally. There is also a scene where Don Vito is introduced, the lighting in the room represents the dark inequality that is cast upon mere men, representation of power among others. We later see lighting when the wedding scene becomes more in depth, resembling family, trust and honor. The "look" and the "feel" of the Godfather rises through a climactic finish as the Corleone's reestablish themselves as a powerful family. Coppola provides his audience with more than just a mobster story, he grips the family values and morals by the throat and dips it int illegal actions so that one man, Michael, can be tested. The Godfather has to be one of the most influential films of all time and represents how foundations can be created with a camera, setting up emotional views and reflecting themes of independence, innocence, guilt, pleasure, betrayal, and personal power.